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AMD Employee Charged With Stealing Intel Secrets
IWonderWhatICanPutInThisFieldWithoutBeingDeleted writes "A man who once worked for Intel and then jumped ship to join AMD has been accused of stealing his erstwhile employer's chip secrets. Federal detectives allege they discovered 19 CAD designs and more than 100 pages of confidential Intel documentation."
It was the design of the Pentium Pro's floating point processor.
The irony is that his new employer (AMD) would never touch the stolen info with a 10-foot pole. The company I work with (also in the IT sector but not hardware) has very, very clear policies around competitive information. They know just how badly it would go for them if they made use of stolen information brought in by a new (or even existing) employee.
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
Toyota and Ferrari?
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
He took the "Intel Inside" campaign too far.
Poaching the dumb employees from your competitor is probably not the most sound business plan, either.
I really have to wonder how significant the information that Intel could get out of these documents is. It seems to me that a few CAD designs and some "confidential" documentation wouldn't be enough to actually give AMD an edge in the market. Even if this information did include Intel "secrets" would they really be things that AMD could implement?
The guy says he copied of the documents "out of curiosity", which doesn't actually strike me as that implausible. I know I have copies of software packages being licensed for $500,000+ to my previous employer. It's not like I'm going to try to use it to make a profit, I just find it interesting stuff and want to be able to keep it.
NINTEEN Computer Aided Design Designs? We should have never approved that New Technology Technology.
We all steal IP when we leave. Most of us do it in our heads however.
So Intel pull a Ferrari and take a leaf out of spygate?
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article.html?in_article_id=65980&in_page_id=58
What isnt mentioned is that he took the goods from intel because the guys at AMD needed a laugh!
*ducks*
I doubt "dumb" or "thief" was on his resumee.
No it was this:
Oh holy spagetti monster, every IT person and CS person absolutely rapes the IP when they leave.
In my boxes that I used to clean out my desk is at least 30 confidential documents that were packed there by the moving company, (I got to keep my desk! that was cool!) and I know I have copies of all the code I wrote when I was there as well as all the SQL queries I wrote.
I have yet to meet someone that says, "I just left company X, no I don't have anything from my old job..." or " I cant fix that, I fixed that at company Y and they own the IP to that fix."
All of you rape and pillage IP when you leave. Accidentally or on purpose, you do it. Being a moron and trying to SELL that or taking it with malicious intent? that is the kicker. if he had it because that is how his desk was packed up for him then it's not his fault, nor is he liable for anything.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
This has nothing to do with AMD competing with Intel. It appears that AMD didn't use the documents, and the employee made the copies on his own, "out of curiosity".
The sad thing is that such laws are only respected in countries like the US and UK.
Soon countries like China will be able to have much better technologies because they can take the best from all sides and create a super product. Even if the US and UK forbid the importation of such products, companies in the US and UK would be at a disadvantage selling inferior product to other countries.
Patents and copyrights will prove to be our downfall since they no longer encourage progress but prevent it.
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
I'm married. My wife keeps my penis in a mason jar under the sink. It only comes out when she wants it.
Is that I frequently have ideas at home. And write them down. And later use them at work.
Would the discovery of these documents in my home constitute evidence of "stealing trade secrets" in the eyes of my employer? If I decided to leave my current employer and work for the competition, would those hobby projects of mine be a liability?
I'm just curious, because I do quite a bit of independent development, and from time to time, it becomes valuable at work.
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
How do people think that they're going to pass this along and not get caught by some method?
Hell, after the Coca Cola incident I would be fearful of having my new employer even know I have such information, let alone use it in some manner.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
During the course of my career I've signed enough Non-Disclosure agreements that it's illegal for me to think; Anecdotes often result in law suits.
Except, in this case, he joined AMD while still employed at Intel. He joined AMD June 2. He gave Intel his resignation JUne 11 (and used vacation instead of working through the 2 weeks). Thus he was under the employment of both companies (who we all know are competitors) for a period of time. This goes beyond innocent "rape and pillage" of IP. At least that's part of your cleanup of your stuff, which you do before you start employment at your new employer. And anything you take is covered under NDA or other confidentiality agreeement. But this guy could not only have taken stuff from Intel and gave them to AMD, he could've (unlikely, but possible) taken stuff from AMD given them to Intel, too, and done it quite surreptitiously.
AMD would have to fire this guy because this would "taint" him, and by association, AMD, who then might have to battle Intel in some lawsuit alleging they used some of those designs in their next processor. AMD might not have, but because this guy has been working at both companies, it's very hard to tell, and AMD really has to do some house cleaning on anything this guy touched to make sure it's clean, and even then, it's hard to tell (the irony is, they can't tell if they're using that stolen IP without knowing what the stolen IP is...
. . . to Intel gathering ;)
Intel pays some guy under the table to "quit" and go work for AMD... oh, and take this envelope with you, hint hint nudge nudge.
Instant competition torpedo.
-- "This world is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel."
At least we now know AMD is hiring again!
No I'm not trolling.
P53.989484848488889999999 according to Intel.